HsRi 



\ 485 
18 R7 
>py 1 



Beautifying 

of 

fionolulu 



Bv 

Cbarks 
muKord 
Robinson 



SB 485 
.H8 R7 
Copy 1 




.. 



f 



V> A 






The Improvement of Honolulu 

By Charles Mulford Robinson. 



To the Honorable The Board of Supervisors, County of Oahu. 
Hawaii Territory. 

Gentlemen : — In accordance with your request, I have ex- 
amined the city of Honolulu and its immediately tributary 
country, with a view to making recommendations and sugges- 
tions for its improvement. I understand that in making rec- 
ommendations which may be called practicable, I am not re- 
stricted to the immediately possible, but am asked to lay 
down a plan for the county to work toward in the years to 
come. The idea, I take it, is to accomplish at once so much 
as may be, making sure the while that each step, however lit- 
tle, counts in the right direction, toward the realization of a 
complete and systematic scheme. 

The word ''improvement" I do not interpret as meaning an 
attempt to enhance the extraordinary natural beauty that has 
been spread around you, but the increase of its accessibility 
and the silencing of jarring notes. My errand is not to "paint 
the lily" — that cannot successfully be done ; but, rather, to facil- 
itate the enjoyment of it. For this reason, I find the special 
emphasis in my report appearing very naturally on your parks 
and drives. But before coming to specific recommendations, 
there are certain general considerations that I desire to call 
to your attention and that are to be regarded as a part of the 
report. 

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

Among these I might fittingly, and pleasantly, include a 
discussion of the future of Honolulu, as the playground of the 



well-to-do and the popular stopping point for the tourist travel 
that is to flow in growing volume across the Pacific. This, 
however, seems to have been pretty fully done by others ; and 
it is much more necessary for you to take thought of the means 
by which you will command such good fortune, through prov- 
ing worthy of it, than to expend your time and mine in pro- 
phecy as to what will happen if you do make yourselves so 
attractive that no one will want to pass you by without a visit 
and that many will come to see these islands only. In these 
•considerations, also, the appeal is to commercial motives. It 
should be higher. When all is said, whatever development 
is given to Honolulu and to its surrounding country, should 
be first of all for the comfort and enjoyment of its own citi- 
zens. They pay the bills, they live — instead of visiting — here, 
and in suggesting improvements for Honolulu we have to 
consider what will improve it for them, make it better worth 
living in, add to the comfort and the pleasure in life of its own 
■citizens. If we make the city more beautiful to them, adding 
to their contentment and happiness, we shall also make it 
•more attractive to strangers. For a town is not like a picture, 
simply to be looked at and admired; it is to be lived in, and 
loved ; and the more lovable it is the more people will come 
to it. 

The lovable quality is personality. The home is attractive, 
however modest its cost, that expresses personality. So the 
town, which is the home of many, must have an individuality 
in keeping with its citizens, and must express it, if it is to 
please them and to attract others. And towns do have in- 
dividuality. There never have been two cities just alike, and 
he would be a ruthless iconoclast who would try to pattern 
one city after another. We must preserve the individuality 
of Honolulu, or its charm will depart. Cut through broad 
avenues and boulevards, build a hot and sunny quay, widen 
your streets and straighten them, spend enough money in 
such measures hopelessly to bankrupt the city, and when the 
work is all done the winsomeness of Honolulu will have 
-departed, and it will always be spoken of as the town that was 



j\."TYV. fa&JLL*^ 



■spoiled. So my first charge is, be true to yourselves. Do not 
dream of what other cities may have done ; but, far isolated 
from them, develop your own individuality, be Hawaiian, be 
a more beautiful Honolulu. Then you will have distinction, 
and only then. 

DIVISIONS OF THE REPORT. 

Now, in considering the city, we think of it under the fol- 
lowing heads : The business section ; the residence streets ; 
the city's entrances, at the railroad station and the water- 
front; the official center, at Union (formerly Palace) Square; the 
boulevards and parks, that are now and that ought to be; the 
children's playgrounds; the drives. I shall try to group my 
recommendations and suggestions under these heads. 

i. THE STREETS, 
a. Their Plan. 

The basic consideration, in thinking of the business and resi- 
dence sections, is the street plan. It is clear that in the older 
Honolulu the streets were narrow and winding, making many 
a graceful curve and meeting at other than right angles. In 
all this there was a certain appropriateness; the narrow streets 
were shadier and cooler than broader thoroughfares could be, 
there was time enough, and there was no great volume of 
travel. The streets were suited to the place, were beautiful, 
and imparted an air of repose and of restful deliberation that 
could not fail to be full of charm to visitors, and that must 
have been a source of subconscious gratification to the resi- 
dents. As far as possible you must retain this character. 
The needs of a growing traffic and the influx of an impatient 
race compel modifications here and there. Many a street has 
already been broadened and straightened, that business and 
getting about may be facilitated : but never has this been done 
without a loss of charm. The construction of a city must, 
indeed, be designed to facilitate the transaction of its business ; 



but what is the business of Honolulu? Yours is not, and does 
not aspire to be, an industrial or a great commercial or finan- 
cial city; it is that rare thing, a city of delight, seeking to give 
leisure and pleasure; flaunting, not volumes of black smoke, 
but green hills and blue seas, the rainbow and the palm. And 
if your business is to give pleasure and to be beautiful, you 
can afford in unwonted measure to be conservative about 
changes ; to shun the ''checker-board plan" as you would the 
plague, and to retain the narrow, winding streets. You asked 
me to come to suggest changes and improvements, and you 
will not perhaps be satisfied that my most urgent appeal to 
you should be a retention of the old. But I am sure I am 
right. Be yourselves. Let all the improvements be a develop- 
ment, not a remaking, of the old. 

b. The Trees. 

Coming to the treatment of these older streets — or streets of 
the old time character, whatever their age — that are not to be 
widened, there is little chance for tree planting on the very 
narrow walk, and I think it would be a sad mistake to attempt 
it. Let the trees be, as-so frequently now, inside the lot line, 
shading the walk by throwing over it the protection of the 
garden. In such planting that uniformity which is so desir- 
able in the setting out of street trees will be difficult to obtain, 
but it will be less essential to success. Better, in such streets, 
walks shaded by various kinds of garden trees than walks 
lined by a uniform street tree. On the newer and broader 
streets, where trees are planted between curb and walk, it is 
important that there be a uniformity in the planting. What- 
ever the number of improvement clubs on any street, they 
must get together on the tree question and see that only one 
kind of tree is used in the street planting of that particular 
thoroughfare. The civic unit is not the club, but the street. 



c. Signs. 

In the business section of Honolulu I think there are more 
signs projecting over the sidewalks from the buildings than 
in any other city I ever visited. As you probably know, these 
have been abolished in San Francisco through the voluntary 
action of the Merchants' Association, which secured the adop- 
tion of an ordinance prohibiting them. They are of little value 
when everybody has them, they interrupt the views — often 
very fine on your streets — they detract from the dignity of the 
way, and are of some danger. 

d. Poles. 

On all the streets, but first on business streets, the poles 
ought to come down. Bad anywhere, these are ten times 
worse here, adding to their usual disfigurement of the streets a 
shock of newness and commonplaceness. A desirable arrange- 
ment would be the construction of a municipal (or county) 
conduit, and the requirement that as fast as a section is fin- 
ished, the wires go into it — the companies paying an annual 
rental that would take care of interest and repairs and pro- 
vide a sinking fund. If this can not be accomplished, a legis- 
lative enactment by your board, requiring the companies to 
put their wires under ground at the rate of a certain reasonable 
number of miles each year would inflict no unjust hardship 
upon them, and by degrees would rid the streets of the poles. 
One or other of these courses has been adopted by most of the 
progressive cities of the States. An incidental but very im- 
portant advantage of ridding residential streets of wires and 
poles will be the rescue of the trees from mutilation by line- 
men. As long as the trees are subjected to this danger, it is 
incumbent upon your board to guard them as carefully as may 
be. I understand that the law now does this fairly well, but 
vour ordinances must be enforced. 



e. Fences. 

The front fences, though a distinctive mark of the old Hono- 
lulu, ought to go. With the beautiful hedges you have here, 
a street fence, and even a division fence between street and 
building line, is very like an affront. If the improvement 
clubs that desire a more beautiful Honolulu would work for 
the taking down of the wooden fences on the streets, much 
would be accomplished. 

f. Private Gardens. 

The planting in the gardens of the city house-lots is little 
of it good, the grounds being generally very "spotty" in a mul- 
titude of isolated specimens, and frequently much too full. 
There is need of teaching here, where a tropical jungle is so 
often attempted on a small lot, the gospel of the beauty of an 
open lawn, with the planting put around its borders, where 
it will take a waving outline, with cool, mysterious bays and 
daring projections. Innumerable avenues, too, of royal palms 
have been weakened and shorn of half their majesty by the 
curve. No tree is statelier, more formal and architectural than 
this, and an avenue of it should be straight, with an adequate 
accent at its end. 

g. Plans for New Streets. 

On the newer, straighter, broader residential streets, a mis- 
take has been made in retaining the narrow walk of the older 
streets, for the thoroughfare becomes neither one thing nor 
the other. It has not the charm of the lane, and it certainly is 
not an up-to-date street of its kind. If there are going to be 
residential streets laid out on the modern method — sixty to 
eighty feet between lot lines, well paved and straight — and 
no doubt with the large number of American residents who 
are accustomed to this and nothing else, there is a sufficient 
demand to justify them — the streets should be the best of 
their sort. An attractive type of such street sixty feet between 



lot lines, would have the following divisions: Between lot line 
and walk, three feet, in turf; the walk, six feet; walk to curb, 
ten feet, in turf, with the street trees, and sometimes further 
ornamented by low shrubs and flowers ; the roadway, twenty- 
two feet. This, of course, is a street without a car line. On 
a residential street eighty feet between lot lines, the same 
measurements for walks and parking leave an additional 
twenty feet between the curbs, which gives room for a dou- 
ble car track in the center. It is an unusual residential street 
on which the traffic requires, if there be no car track, more 
than a twenty-two foot roadway ; and as soon as the required 
width is passed there is a needless expense in maintenance, an 
unnecessary area for the creation of dust, and an uncalled for 
sacrifice of attractiveness. Nor is the ''parking," as it is called, 
between walk and curb of aesthetic value only. In the ten- 
foot strip the trees have a better chance, their roots are un- 
likely to injure walk or road, and the division of walk from 
road saves the pedestrian from not a little dust and from spat- 
tering by mud. As the city grows, and such streets as these 
are laid out or extended in the newer districts, in response to 
a demand for the conventional American residential street, 
let them have these proportions. But disturb the older part 
of Honolulu as little as may be, and impose this ordinary type 
of thoroughfare on no wider area than necessary. In fact, in 
the development of suburban tracts, I would like to see some 
developed with the old lines, which are the lines also of the 
English towns that have been always so much more pictures- 
que than the American, and the lines that are fitted to the 
natural barriers offered by the curving hills and to the irregu- 
lar contour of the ground. 

h. Street Intersections. 

Here and there in the city the juncture of diagonal streets 
has created at the place of meeting a wide space. An exam- 
ple of this is offered at the conjunction of Alapai, Kinau and 
Lunalilo. At such points the excess space at the center should 



8 

be parked. A circle or triangle, as the case may be, can be 
established here, curbed and filled with good earth. This can 
be planted to grass, and with a tall palm in the center it will be- 
come a very attractive feature in the street plan, extending 
its effect far up and down the abutting streets. In Washing- 
ton such spaces are frequently occupied by sculpture ; a foun- 
tain is always attractive,, and thus the treatment may vary 
at different points; but the palm or a flowering tree would 
seem at once the easiest and most appropriate here. 

i. Opening of New Tracts and Thoroughfares. 

Before closing this discussion of the streets, I wish to touch 
iipon the opening of new tracts and thoroughfares, though I 
shall do it briefly, as this has only indirect bearing on the beau- 
tifying of the city. Air. Pinkham's plan for the reclamation of 
the McCully tract is most elaborate, and doubtless from a 
sanitary point of view is very desirable. It would appear only 
a matter of time before the city would have to undertake some 
such measures for at least the greater part of the area included 
in the scheme ; but whether there is now a large enough 
demand for new residential property to repay the considerable 
cost of such improvement, or whether the sanitary need is 
such as to justify a large outlay without prompt reimburse- 
ment, are matters that I shall not attempt to consider. But 
whenever such a plan is undertaken, I would advise a remodel- 
ing of the street plotting as put down on the Pinkham plan. 
In developing such a virgin tract, designed for high class resi- 
dences, and prominently located, it would be a pity to impose 
a gridiron street plan, where the curve of beach and lagoon — 
the dominating topographical features — cry out for curving 
streets, as at once more attractive, more appropriate, and prob- 
ably more economical in the utilization of the space. A new 
thoroughfare, running diagonally from Beckwith street to the 
College Hills tract, east of the rocky ledge and parallel to 
the general direction of Manoa road, would be of value to 
Manoa valley in its provision of a second means of entrance, 



of a short cut, and of a street without car tracks. In this re- 
gion also a plan to build a road running diagonally across the 
valley, from Kaala avenue to Beretania street near the bridge, 
so giving to the park and Diamond Head road connection 
with this valley, has my hearty approval. The prolongation 
of Waikiki road to Beretania street would prove a convenience 
to many in its shortening of distances, would relieve King 
street, and would make readily available for carriages and 
automobiles a thoroughfare (Young street) into town that is 
unbroken by car tracks. Young street itself could be so car- 
ried through Thomas square, by double narrow drives, cir- 
cling around the middle plot as not to detract from the parklike 
effect that such a square should have. Since Waikiki road 1 
and its extensions are having development as "the" boule- 
vard of the city they are entitled to such improved connection 
with the town. The proximity of Pauoa Valley would seem to 
invite its opening for residences, and a scenic need throughout 
the district adjacent to Honolulu, since we are dealing not 
with the work of one year but with that which may be spread 
over many, is the construction of such additional roads in 
each of the valleys as to provide circular, or loop, drives that 
will open to view the beauty of the valleys and make it unnec- 
essary to retrace one's steps on the same road. To this mat- 
ter I shall refer again in considering your parks and drives. 
The extension of Allen street along the waterfront to connect 
with Queen, if practicable and not too costly, would seem a 
logical and desirable step, that there may be an unbroken- 
public way along the docks. 

2. FOCAL POINTS. 

The focal points of the city's activity may now properly re- 
ceive consideration. 

a. The Railroad Station. 

The railroad station, which in most communities is of prime 
importance as the main point of entrance and egress, is here 



IO 

altogether overshadowed by the greater significance of the 
water gate. An advantage of this is the opportunity thus 
given for a concentration of attention upon the development 
of the latter. But it will not do to neglect entirely any focus 
of the city, and I find the railroad station and its main 
approach receiving, through the enterprise of the interested 
company, commendable attention and treatment. 

b. The Water Entrance. 

To the water entrance I have given much thought. The 
big new slips, which will establish the location of this entrance 
as far as most passengers are concerned, extend for the present 
east of Alakea street and reach to Allen. Almost ideally 
located in front of this site is a block of ground occupied by 
the old fish market, now practically abandoned, but public 
property to be developed as seems best. Here, then, is the 
place to create that formal and attractive entrance to 
the city that shall insure a good first and last impression to 
travelers and make for residents a pleasauter means of access 
to the docks than any now possessed. 

The block is bounded by Alakea, Queen, Richards and Allen 
streets and is 350 feet long by some 230 feet wide. 1 append a 
print showing the plan I have worked out for it. The plot's 
Allen street line is set back at the middle, or entrance, point 
thirty feet, and then is carried out to the street line at either 
end in a curve. The purpose of this is to give greater space 
to traffic at the point where this most converges and inciden- 
tally to emphasize the invitation of the open space behind, as 
a straight line — shutting it off like private property — would 
fail to do. On the broad curving walks that follow these arcs 
to the entrance at the center, 1 would have the sellers of leis. 
The position would be an equally convenient and happy one 
for them and for the public. At the entrance, seventy feet wide, 
1 recommend a tall and handsome gateway — the archi- 
tectural achievement of the city. This might take the form 
^either of pylons, or, as a more familiar type of gate with a 




SUGGESTED WATER-FRONT ENTRANCES FOR HONOLULU. 
By Charles Mulford Robinson, 1906. 
Prepared from Plan in the Office of the Survey Department. 



12 

connecting bridge above the road, provide a place for the band, 
where it would be out of the way and where its music would 
carry easily to the upper decks of the arriving or departing 
steamer. In the construction or ornament of this gate the 
word •"Aloha" might well be incorporated. Beyond the entrance 
there would stretch a forty-five foot road, with an eight foot walk- 
on either side of it, separated from the road by four and a half 
feet of turf. 

Passing through the gate, which would give an unusually 
imposing entrance to the city, the road and walks lead straight 
away to a point ioo feet from the further end. Here they fork, 
proceeding by long curves to the two corners, and so connect- 
ing with Alakea and Richards streets. At the crotch of the 
fork, terminating the vista of the road, there should gradually 
rise a bank of tropical foliage: at the base, low ferns, midway 
higher the oleander, far back the banana, and back of all the 
tall palms. Outlining the arcs at the front of the plot should 
be the royal palm. At the sides the ironwoods, already 
planted and well grown, may remain, and in front of them 
date palms. Overhanging the walks, the algaroba will give a 
pleasant shade and yet be so low as not to screen the trees 
beyond. Thus the entrance to Honolulu would be, as it ought 
to be, through a garden. In adopting the suggested treat- 
ment, Alakea and Richards streets would carry all the heavy 
traffic, an ordinance restricting the use of the parkway to pas- 
senger vehicles. 

An opportunity for a waterfront park near this point, fur- 
ther lo enhance the attractiveness of the entrance, is offered 
by the lots makai side of Allen street, from Alakea to Kekua- 
naoa, and to Fort if a new Custom House is erected on another 
site. In time this land may be needed for additional large 
slips, but that is not likely to be soon, and meanwhile they 
would easily make a very attractive harbor paik, a pleasant 
sight to travelers, but of still more importance to Honolulu 
residents. Considering the central location of this park, the 
fascination of the busy shipping scenes that it would offer, 
and the improvement that its existence would effect, it would 



be abundantly worth its cost. If the park were made here, 
it should have a bandstand. The whole situation at this 
strategic point is one of unusual good fortune, and your board 
is to be congratulated on its opportunity to carry out a very 
striking, valuable and memorable bit of public work. 

Were such plans executed, a convenient and noble site 
for the new Custom House would be found in the plot be- 
tween Alakea, Allen and Kilauea streets, with the park out- 
look on front and side; or en Richards street. 

c. Union Square. 

I come now. to the third focal point of the city: the adminis- 
trative, or official center, well established at Union (formerly 
Palace) square. 

Few cities of the United States are so fortunate as Hono- 
lulu in an early grouping of public buildings around a single 
open space. At once for its present significance, for its grow- 
ing importance as official business becomes larger, and for 
its past, which can not fail to have increasing historical inter- 
est as time goes on, this center demands careful and worthy 
development. It demands it the more because its present 
irregularities, its sunn}' waste at one end, its jumbled aspect 
as to the location of buildings, and the general air of shabbi- 
ness imparted by the grounds around the Judiciary structure, 
now give an unpleasant impression where the effect should be 
orderlv and fine. In remodeling this space I have been de- 
sirous of trespassing as little as possible on former conditions, 
and of emphasizing the historical significance of the center 
while securing the desired effect. 

As a part of my report I append a blue print showing the 
plan worked out. Its principal features are the freedom from 
molestation of the area occupied by the grounds of the exec- 
utive building, or Old Palace; the bringing into the scheme 
of the Kawaiahao church, the removal of the Opera House 
from its present site, and of the garage on the makai side of 
King street, the purchase for these purposes of a little land, 




SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENT OF UNION SQUARE AND ITS APPROACHES, 

HONOLULU, OAHU. 

By Charles Mulford Robinson, 1906. 

Prepared from Plan in the Office of the Survey Department. 



i5 

the provision of a choice of three good sites for the Post- 
ofHce, and of a new site for the Opera House, the utilization of 
the waste space in the street. 

In more detail, the plans contemplate the purchase of the 
strip between the grounds of the Judiciary building and 
Punchbowl street, and of that triangle between Richards and 
Mililani streets of which the site of the present Opera House 
forms the Waikiki and larger end. It is singular that by the 
acquisition of such a little land so large an effect can be secured 
at so important a point, and Honolulu may well congratulate 
itself on this second opportunity. Clearing the space thus 
secured, Kawaiahao church is opened to view from Union 
square and becomes, as it ought to be, one of the group of his- 
torical structures gathered there. A new street, centering on 
the statue of King Kamehameha I., with that closing the vista 
at one end and the Lunalilo tomb plainly in view at the other T 
gives a more direct access to Punchbowl street, and leaves 
between itself and King street a plot to be parked with turf 
and low shrubs, the switch of the street railroad company 
having provision made for it in front of the Judiciary building. 
Corresponding with this street, on the other side of the statue, 
a street gives direct connection with Merchant street, opens 
an attractive vista, and leaves a plot between itself and King 
that, similarly, will be parked with turf and low shrubs. These 
new "streets" are more accurately double roadways for King 
street, making provision for any increase of traffic at this 
point in the years to come and giving to King street through 
this, its official or state section, the character of a broad parked 
street. 

As to the Postoffice, it is clear that the new structure should 
be added to the group of public buildings, thus adding to its own 
dignity as well as to the effectiveness of the square. Three 
sites are suggested. Site "A" would be my first choice oon- 
sidered from the gestheic standpoint, and because site "C" 
would then be left available for the Opera House, so adding 
another public structure to the group and giving to it a site 
open to the street on three sides — a desirable consideration in 



i6 

planning fire exits to a theater. Site "C" would be my second 
choice for the Postoffice, as the position is one of great promi- 
nence and aesthetic importance to the square. It is also more 
convenient for the city's business section. Site "B" also would 
be admirable, especially if it should be possible to obtain 
all the block, placing the Postoffice on a line with the Judi- 
ciary Building and, like each of the other official structures, 
in a little park of its own — an arrangement lovely in itself and 
of especial appropriateness here. Incidentally it may be 
observed that in urging one of these sites for the new Post- 
office, the large aesthetic gain is secured with no loss of con- 
venience to business, and with an even greater proximity to 
the docks, to the government offices and to the hotels. 

It should also be observed that the proposed development 
of Union square, for the enhancement of its beauty and dig- 
nity, brings this improvement within two short blocks of the 
waterfront improvement, and on the direct line to the resi- 
dential and hotel district, so adding very markedly to the 
favorable and abiding first impression of entering travelers. 
If, now, the Custom House should also be located on Richards 
street, as suggested further back — either between Queen and 
Merchant streets, where, flanking sites "B" and "C," it would 
come into the group plan; or on the other side of Richards 
street, between Queen and Halekauwila — these two focal 
points, the waterfront and official center, would be brought 
yet closer together, with impressive and exceptionally fine 
effect. In fact, what other port would have so striking an 
entrance? As to convenience, the Richards street sites really 
are equally near to merchants and to docks, barring only the 
wharf of the Oceanic Steamship Company, as is the present 
location. 

The development recommended for these centers of activity, 
though so marked as to be almost radical, is sorely needed 
at each point and at each point is made, as I believe, with 
due respect for the past and for Honolulu traditions, and to 
the emphasizing rather than to the jeopardizing of the city's 
charm. 



i7 
3. THE PARKS. 

I shall consider the parks before discussing drives and boule- 
vards, because the purpose of the latter is mainly to connect 
and. give access to the public reservations. 

Parks are of many different kinds, having different pur- 
poses, and a well-developed city can no more get along with 
one kind of park than with one kind of street. There should 
be the public pleasure grounds ; the scenic reservations for 
the contemplation of nature, where games and sports would 
be out of place ; the ornamental squares, the playgrounds for 
children, the public gardens that are like oases in crowded 
parts of the community. 

a. Kapiolani. 

In Honolulu the principal park is Kapiolani. It is situated 
on a sandy plain, and in this city of views is itself without one, 
save as now ami then there is a vista of Diamond Head, or 
of more distant hills. Yet the custom of years has given to 
Kapiolani Park a hold on the people's affection — barren or 
repulsive as much of it is. 

A suggestion for ideal development here would doubtless 
require lovely lawns and flower gardens, where this work has 
been started ; a jungle of tropical bloom along the lagoons, 
such as has been developed out of similar conditions of soil 
and climate on neighboring private grounds and such as travel- 
ers expect to find here ; cool drives under arches of the over- 
hanging algaroba, and in the center attractive play fields. 
But to obtain these desirable results, there would be need to 
expend a great deal of money. Indeed, the condition is to be 
frankly faced at once: Kapiolani Park needs, from some 
source or other, a large appropriation for improvement, and 
if it is to be made an ornamental, show park it requires a very 
large one. 

My suggestions for immediate work at Kapiolani are as fol- 
lows : Fill up all but the main lagoon. Laid out on perfectly 
straight lines, the lagoons are more like canals than natural 



i8 

waterways and have no attractiveness in themselves. With 
the water in them foul and stagnant, they are something less 
than unattractive and the park should he freed of them. On 
the water borders of the lagoon remaining, put in some clus- 
ters of bamboo and pampas grass and carry on the shore 
planting, to soften the lines, to give a more natural look to 
the stream and to take away the aspect of a ditch. Screen 
the barns and various service buildings with a high hibiscus 
hedge. Extend, by further planting of algarobas, the arched 
drive, now in isolated sections a charming feature on the east 
and north circumference of the park, so that it may be con- 
tinuous. Acquire, if practicable, the algaroba grove lying 
nearest the sea between the park and Diamond Head, and 
add it to the park. Everywhere open vistas through the trees, 
so that it may be possible to look across park meadows, to get 
an idea of the park's extent, and to bring into it as one of its 
chief charms views of the rugged grandeur of Diamond Head 
and of the high distant hills with their ever-changing shadows. 
Convert the race track grounds into play fields and golf links, 
and get the old grandstand out of sight as quickly as you can. 
In the front and more ornamental part of the grounds, do not 
be afraid of the open lawn. There is some attempt at it, but 
the planting is still "spotty" and there is much clearing out 
that ought yet to be done, the algarobas and crotons, where 
retained at all, needing to be gathered into clumps instead of 
left as they are, as individual specimens, scattered and mis- 
placed. It will surprise you to see how much this will im- 
prove the grounds. Around the superintendent's house, 
shrubs should be planted, to wed the house to the lawn. The 
trolley poles, if they have to remain, may be made a less con- 
spicuous misfortune if painted green and planted around the 
base with vines. The poles in the center of the grass walk on 
the ocean side of the street are an unpardonable intrusion and 
should be ordered out at once. 

In making this list of suggestions and criticisms, I recog- 
nize that the present aspect is doubtless a vast improvement 
over that of the past, and I am glad to give credit for the 



19 

accomplishment of much, considering the conditions and the 
handicap of low appropriations. But it is my duty to tell you 
that it" yon want a handsome park there, or even a moderately 
i^n)i\ park, you must be prepared to expend a large sum of 
monev. And what the park has been, I am not asked to con- 
sider; but what the park possessions of Honolulu might be. 
In making these suggestions, too. I have been as moderate 
as possible, indicating the park's further development along 
the lines already started, and making use of all the good 
there is. 

With the -purchase of the beach lots opposite Kapiolani 
Park, Honolulu has had done for it one of the best things that 
could be done. The great attraction of the lots is the beach 
and the water, and to make the latter available for bathing is 
the first and most important step. A house admirably adapted 
for a beach pavilion already stands en the property, and with 
the main emphasis on the waterfront there is not a great deal 
that needs to be done in the way of landscape design. This 
will naturally find its motif in bringing the lots into seeming 
unity with one another and with Kapiolani Park, so that the 
appearance of separate lots may be promptly done away with 
and Kapiolani Park will appear to extend, as it always should 
have, to the sea. The new addition definitely fixes, also, the 
character of this reservation as the public pleasure ground in 
your list of parks. 

b. Scenic Reservations. 

In a city like Honolulu— of its size, with no large class of 
industrial operatives requiring outdoor physical exercise, and 
with views and natural scenery the great attraction of the city, 
—one good sized park is enough to develop distinctly as a 
pleasure-ground. To this purpose, as has been said. Kapiolani 
can be very properly devoted. But the city's need of scenic 
reservations, that the great viewpoints may be secured for all 
the people, is more than usually urgent. The case is one of 
large obligations involved by noble gifts and opportunities; 



20 

and as an individual could do no lovelier public work than to 
set aside a beautiful viewpoint for perpetual public enjoy- 
ment, it is to be hoped that some of these advantageous sites 
will be thus presented, as in other cities, to the community. 
What is not given, the people must secure for themselves 
through their representatives. 

Happily, a comparatively large acreage can be set aside for 
this kind of park. It needs little landscape work, for the 
feature is the view, from which it is not desirable to distract 
attention ; the cost of maintenance is at a minimum, because 
the park is to be left so largely in a natural state ; the land 
generally costs little, since the most advantageous viewpoints 
are likely to be hills too steep or too high to be valuable as 
building sites ; and its reservation deducts little from assess- 
ment totals. Thus there is no other kind of park that requires 
so little care and so little outlay and on the whole gives such 
satisfaction. The only embarrassment in Honolulu is the mul- 
titude of admirable sites. Following is my selection : 

Beginning with the Pali, as the great scenic attraction of 
the island and one of the fine views of the world, there is 
already constructed a road for approach of which the county 
has reason to be proud. At the summit of the pass and for a 
considerable distance below, the area is a public reservation, 
under efficient charge. There is here, then, in fact, if not in 
name, a scenic park, and there is need of only a few finishing 
touches to make it what it ought to be. These include the 
provision of seats at advantageous points along the Pali road, 
that walking thither may be encouraged and made easier, and 
that the beautiful views on the way up and down may be sug- 
gested. Such points would be, among others, at the pool ; at 
the turn after crossing the culvert, in the horseshoe curve, 
where the city and valley lie below, and at the extreme western 
turn higher up, where a noble view of the mountains is un- 
folded. Similarly, footpaths or trails should be made to points 
off the main road that offer exceptional outlooks, such as to 
the knoll near the new dam and to the knolls and natural 
ledges that are on either side of the road just at the summit, 



21 

and which disclose fine new views. At the summit there 
should be provided an appropriately designed shelter from 
rain and wind, and beneath the abrupt bank on the right there 
is a go< (I site for a public convenience station. At the look- 
out the incongruous and hideous wooden fence should be re- 
moved to make way for a rough wall of lava rock that would 
fit into the scene. With these slight improvements, requiring 
little of the county, the Pali would take the high place in park- 
lists to which it is entitled. 

Proceeding Waikikiward, the next great outlook on which 
I would urge a public reservation is the so-called hotel site- 
on the summit of Pacific Heights. Thence there is one of the 
most beautiful views to be had near Honolulu. One looks 
down upon Punchbowl, and the lovely Nuuanu valley is dis- 
closed as from no other point. It would be a shame if the 
community suffered this outlook, now going seemingly to 
waste, to be fenced oft' in hotel grounds. The commonest 
criticism of the site as that for a park, or scenic reservation, 
is based on its inaccessibility. But an easy carriage road 
affording, charming views leads to it in no more time from 
Fort and Hotel streets than one needs to go to Kapiolani 
Park, and because one cheaply constructed and dangerous 
electric road, that followed all the twistings of the carriage 
drive, has failed, there is no reason why a better built road, 
following a shorter course, and with the added attraction of a 
public park should not pay. Such a road would doubtless 
bring the suggested site thirty to fifty per cent, nearer in 
time to the center of the city than is Kapiolani Park. My 
opinion is that here is one of the most beautiful and available 
park sites of Honolulu, which is saying a great deal, and that 
the reason it has been so commonly overlooked is largely be- 
cause the slopes of which it forms the crown are less attrac- 
tive in contour than the striking and precipitous sides of 
Punchbowl or than the beautiful rolling hills or than the 
higher mountains beyond with their covering of trees. 

The less precipitous sides, however, are an advantage; 
approaches, that only need repairs, are already built for 



22 

pedestrians and carriages; and water is available at once in 
ample volume. Since the other scenic reservations require 
very little money for their development, as this overlooks one 
of the best residential sections of the city, as it is convenient 
to the business district, and as natural conditions are so favor- 
able that large results must come here from moderate expen- 
ditures, I recommend the development at this point of the 
"show" park. The view must always be its surpassing attrac- 
tion ; but the uneven grades invite terraces; lawns and flowers 
can easily be obtained, and outlooks are suggested by many 
a knoll and projection with its opening of differing views. 

Should the park be located here, the road that climbs the hill- 
side should be made an adequate park approach. Trees so 
planted along its borders as not to interfere with the view will 
not only make pleasanter the way but will do much to give 
beauty to the hill. As to a railroad to the summit, it ought not 
to follow the drive. A short cog wheel or balanced car road 
could be run up the precipitous Nuuanu side without marring 
the slope seen from the city, or at easier grade and offering 
better access to the houses that may be built on the Heights, 
could follow the green ravine in front. Thence its extension 
around the head of the valley, to give popular access to Tanta- 
lus, as was once proposed, should be accomplished with no 
great difficulty and with the unfolding of a wonderful pano- 
rama of views. Such work would be a making the most of 
the inspiring opportunities you have, a work that would con- 
tribute not less to the delight of the citizens of Oahu county 
than to that of tourists. The one danger in making readily 
accessible to the people such a great natural reservation as 
Tantalus is their possible abuse of it. But this could be pre- 
vented by strict guard, and it is to be remembered that the 
tract belongs to the people, that there can be no justice in 
making parks or public scenic reservations exclusive, and that 
very seldom, when the people are trusted, do they violate the 
trust by the injury of their own property. 

As suggested by the foregoing, Tantalus is the next tract 
that I urge to have dedicated to public enjoyment as a scenic 



23 

reservation. You are too familiar with the beauty of the 
scene, with the delight of the long shady drive or walk through 
the forest reservation, with the novel charm and beauty of 
the natural forest higher up, with the lovely dells and glades 
between the ridges, with the loveliness of the broken land- 
scape in its variety of development, with the splendor of the 
outlooks from every vantage point, to make it necessary for 
me to try to picture the scene as an argument in behalf of a 
park reservation there. The Tantalus park should be, with 
the far uncertainty of its further boundary as one looks across 
to other mountains, the one great park ; — for Honolulu that 
hit of God's world that cities now are learning to secure and 
save for the people, that they may get close to nature, for- 
getting the fences and survey lines which civilization has 
thrown, like a network of prison walls, upon the world. 

Think of how Boston has secured the Middlesex Fells and 
the Blue Hills; how New York, where land is so precious, has 
put aside Bronx Park with its twilight forest; how Chicago is 
planning for vast inland tracts, how Los Angeles has received 
from a citizen a gift of hills and woods in Griffith Park, how 
the State of New York is reserving the Adirondack's and the 
Catskills — think of these, and ask yourselves how their park 
availability is to be compared to that of Tantalus, with moun- 
tains, sea, and tropical forest, all close to the city, reached 
by good road and trail, and the property already of the people, 
except for such little house lots as the government has parted 
with — selling the public birthright for a cupful of porridge. 
It were absurd to have to argue for a park reservation on Tan- 
talus. The place does its own arguing, for the spot is visibly 
a natural, God-given park; and I would show little respect 
for the intelligence of the people of Honolulu, and do scant 
honor to the Board of Supervisors, if I expended energy in 
pleading that this publicly owned tract, to obtain the like of 
which any city in the States would bond itself for millions, 
should be parted with no more. It is your right to insist upon 
that. 

There are some practical questions, however, to be consid- 



24 

ered. My pica would be that the government, now controlling 
the property, make it a Government Park — just as States are 
putting aside their best scenic treasures for State parks and 
the Federal government is making National parks. It would 
be doing honor to itself in doing this ; and how little this is to 
ask — where the land is already owned and does not have to 
be purchased. At best, or worst, there are few lots that could 
still be sold, and it is estimated that, if all these were disposed 
of, the government would receive only $15,000 — which, funded, 
would give the princely income of $900 a year, in exchange 
for the people's enjoyment of such an estate. Better, if the 
government must have money out of Tantalus, that it put 
aside the land still held and reacquire, as opportunity offers, 
what it has now lost, and then lease to private parties — as 
does the State of Xew York in the Adirondacks — certain camp- 
ing and bungalow rights. By so doing it could not only obtain 
a much better income ; but it would be able to safeguard the 
whole property, choosing the campers and restricting their 
improvements and use of the sites to such things as could not 
injure the general landscape effect or bar the public from 
enjoying the park as a whole. If more money still were 
wished, there is a large area over which scientific forestry 
could be practiced. 

But even to territories money is not everything. There are 
certain benefits that are more to be desired, and that, only 
indirectly economic, do bring in money returns — such as de- 
lighting residents, so that the territory grows in population; 
as delighting tourists, so that they return and others come; 
as offering opportunities for experiments in horticulture which 
result in increasing the productiveness, the charm and the 
wealth of the island; as giving to the people a place where 
tired nerves can rest and exhausted constitutions be rein- 
vigorated — for this would be more than merely a scenic park. 
Reserve Tantalus, where there is need of little landscape work 
beyond cutting a few trails and, some day, making a new 
road which, skirting the slopes of Round Top and Sugar Loaf, 
shall reach the Manoa valley and render it unnecessary to 



25 

come and go by one way, and it is easy to foresee that these 
and other yams shall come. As to the makai limit of the 
reservation, I have examined the three lines proposed, by the 
Senate Committee, by the Research Club, and as a compromise. 
My only query is. Why the modesty of the lower line — why 
not save more? But my advice is, take all you can yet now, 
wherever the line comes; and the park will justify itself and 
there will rise a popular demand for its extension such that it 
will be carried lower — though the delay may cost the com- 
munity larger expense and some loss of beauty. 

Coming next to Punchbowl, we reach a more strictly, in 
the sense of more intimately connected, town possession. Of 
this again the suitability for a scenic reservation, and even 
the obligation that rests upon the community thus to save it, 
needs no argument of mine. When the city is seen from afar, 
from the deck of an incoming steamer, this great high-shoul- 
dered mass, rising from the very midst of the houses, and 
overlooking sea, port, and the mountain valleys, presents it- 
self as a natural park site. Never in the city does one get 
away from it, and among all the residents there seems but 
one opinion — Punchbowl for a park ! What to do with it, 
however, and how best to make it available are questions that 
press for solution. 

With propositions to transform it into a great bouquet of 
flowers — a sort of set piece — by clothing its sides with vines 
of brilliant bloom, I do not sympathize, even were such results 
immediately attainable. Any city may look for such an effect, 
and countless cities have it — as Los Angeles has it in the 
slopes at the entrance of Elysian Park, or as Rochester has it 
in Highland Park; but few are the cities that have an extinct 
volcano in their very center. Would one put baby blue rib- 
bons on a giant, or paint an ocean vessel to resemble a birch- 
bark canoe? In the gaunt sides of Punchbowl and Diamond 
Head you have unique possessions, to be treasured, not hidden, 
and full of a beauty that is rare because it is all their own. 
What finer scenes near town than these when the low sun 
turns their brown slopes to gold? Don't be ashamed of them; 



26 

be proucl of them. Throw all the verdure you desire around 
their bases, that they may be the more emphasized, but keep 
them the volcanic masses that they are. 

For these reasons I can not endorse the suggested temple 
effect upon the summit. There are other hills where the 
beauty of white columns against a blue sky may be tried, if 
you will. Here the structure would needs be very costly, and 
massive in the near view to have adequate proportion from 
afar, were there no question of appropriateness ; and for these 
reasons again I dislike the appearance of the trail — well as it 
is to have one — for it seems to tame or belittle the hill while 
making a scar upon it. Some algarobas that now cling here 
and there to the steep banks, indicate that a few others planted 
close to the trail, if humored a little at first, would doubtless 
grow, sheltering the hot, sunny path and softening its outline. 
For the rest, if there must be planting of any kind on the 
slopes, let the wild morning glory climb the steeps and try the 
mesembryanthemum — both vines which live and prosper on 
very iittle soil or moisture, and both flowers too modest to 
seem to be attempting to deck the dead volcano. 

Within the crater, the rich soil and the protection from 
strong winds offer, when water shall be obtainable, an admir- 
able site for horticultural and forestry experiments. My rec- 
ommendation would be to give the care of this area to the 
Forestry Department, which must soon outgrow the cramped 
experimental grounds on King street, or to any similar asso- 
ciation, that, in creating here, where the view is shut off, an 
attractive and interesting garden, would take over in this 
way the care of the greater part of the grounds and at the 
same time do a work that would be of value to county and 
islands. This would leave only the rim for strictly scenic- 
park purposes, where you would need to do little more than 
make trails, so reducing largely the cost of maintenance. A 
shelter also should be erected, but my advice would be to 
put it below the rim, that it might not show from any point 
in town, thus defending the height from artificial excresences. 

As to the approaches to Punchbowl, if the hill is to be used, 



27 

it is important to make them adequate. A long step toward 
this would be the extension of Prospeet street. At about its 
present grade it should be carried around the west side of 
Punchbowl, following the irregular contour of the hill and so 
constantly presenting new and attractive views, until, passing 
above the little cottages, it strikes into Punchbowl road. Car- 
ried then, at the other end, over the gully, it would reach in 
a verv short distance the east end of Punchbowl road, forming 
with it a complete circle around the hill and affording direct 
and attractive access from every part of the city. The exten- 
sion of this street is so important for its park connection that 
I urge it in this portion of my report rather than in that which 
dealt with the opening of streets and tracts. 

Diamond Head is so far from the city and there is so much 
pressing to be done nearer town, that 1 recommend no imme- 
diate expenditure there beyond that involved in opening suit- 
able trails, — assuming that there is no need to urge the reserva- 
tion of the area. 

One other very small tract I should like to see dedicated 
to public enjoyment, and I will have done with my recom- 
mendations for parks of this kind — the kind which is of most 
significance to Honolulu. This is the rocky hill back of Oahu 
College. It offers a surprisingly beautiful view, is the natural 
park for the College Hills tract, and with its accessibility 
from Manoa road is in touch with a much larger section of 
the city. Its picturesquely rugged character requires no tam- 
pering with landscape designs, and thus practically no ex- 
pense. 

In the somewhat detailed discussion of these reservations, 
the list doubtless seems long, and more formidable than it 
reallv is in the expense involved. In running over the list, 
you have to remember that the Pali, much of Tantalus, all of 
Punchbowl and all of Diamond Head, are already out of the 
market so far as building sites are concerned ; that the Pali 
requires absurdly little further expense to realize its most 
obvious opportunities, and none at all for maintenance; that 
the plan suggested for the Tantalus reserve would make it 



28 

a Territorial park, and as far as the Territory is involved of no 
net expense ; that that proposed for Punchbowl would relieve 
the county of care of all except the slopes and rim — which 
want to be left pretty much alone; that no immediate expense 
is contemplated at Diamond Head; and finally that the public 
already has free access to the Rocky Hill in the College Tract. 
This leaves only, as items of considerable expense, the develop- 
ment of the Pacific Heights park — where every dollar of ex- 
penditure will give large returns, — and the extensions of Pros- 
pect street, in which the gain to the community is double, 
since it secures convenient access to a park, and a drive that 
in itself is beautiful. 

Taking the list, then, in the aggregate, consider what a 
chain of scenic reservations this would be — all the best van- 
tage points seized and held forever for the public, that never 
should the beautiful views which nature has spread before 
Honolulu and its guests be taken from them and fenced away. 
From Pali to Diamond Head, and back through Kapiolani 
Park, Main avenue and the Beach road to the waterside parks, 
water entrance and Union square there would be a girdle of 
majesty and beauty of which the city never could be robbed. 
That in itself would be a park system worth having, the like 
of which it would be hard to find, and remarkably practicable 
in its attainment. 

I include the waterside parks in this list of scenic reserva- 
tions, though the beach lots at Kapiolani Park will have in 
their bathing facilities a double value — being pleasure ground 
as well as scenic reservation. It is to be hoped and expected 
that as dredging in the harbor proceeds, filling in will take 
place at points along the Beach road. And I urge this so that 
there may be other waterside parklands. For the sea with its 
ceaseless change, its varying color, its panorama of shipping, 
is as strictly and attractively scenery as any mountain view. 
The development of these parks will be very easy. Some turf 
and palms, a few clumps of shrubs at corners, and plenty of 
seats that face the ocean — and your island people will be able 



29 

to get close to the sea, as is their right, to listen all day to its 
song and to feel again the salt spray. 

c. Ornamental Open Spaces. 

No park system, however well worth while, conld make 
claim to completeness, had it only pleasure grounds and scenic 
reservations. The system does not perform its full function 
unless some of its members, entering into the very construc- 
tion of the city, bear a part in beautifying it. Such work as 
that proposed at Union square and at street intersections is the 
best type of this ; but there are also plots, such as Emma 
square and Thomas square, that are set apart expressly for 
this purpose. Because their purpose is so predominantly 
aesthetic, they demand a special care in planning and maintain- 
ing. 

Neither of these squares is good in landscape design. An 
open space of green lawn and shady trees is always gratifying 
in the network of city streets ; but the squares ought to give 
more than that. Sunny Emma square is a cross between a 
lumberyard and an outdoor auditorium, and the more preten- 
tious Thomas square in its plain lack of any comprehensive 
plan seems haphazard. If Young street is carried through, 
as proposed, some remodeling will be necessary. There 
should also be groups of shrubs at the corners, and a waving 
outline of them around the borders would shut away the 
street without shutting away the park, and add much to the 
attractiveness of the interior. Considering, too, the origin of 
this space, it would seem that a flag staff might well be made 
its dominating feature. The use of the square, by having 
paths that make short cuts through it, is as now to be en- 
couraged. 

In ATcKinley Park the community has practically title to a 
plot of ground capable of very interesting and attractive 
development. My idea of this park, centrally situated in a 
residential district that promises to increase rapidly in popu- 
lation, would be to make of it a pretty playfield suited to the 
needs of the population around it. Tts level stretches should 



30 

include tennis courts, its borders should be beautified with 
shrubs and flowers, its fine views opened, and the clear waters 
of its lake made available for the boats of little children. The 
conditions too are singularly favorable for an aviary, should 
there be a desire to substitute that, wholly or in part, for the 
other treatment. 

If the parks of this general character have value among the 
gardens of the rich and well-to-do, they are yet more needed 
where peopie are crowded together in tenements, where the 
commonest garden (if there be any) is a row of plants in pots 
and tubs, and where the streets have no attractiveness in 
themselves. Yet I find no open spaces of this kind on the 
Ewa side of Fort street. 

There are several admirable sites for one. That which I 
favor is on both sides of King street, just beyond Liliha. Here, 
in the heart of a crowded tenement district, on an arterial 
street containing a much patronized carline, there is a broad 
vacant space,, considerably below the street level and there- 
fore wet and muddy much of the time, that is bisected by an 
open sewer in which the foul water long lies stagnant. To 
cover the drain, to fill the space, to grade and make a park, 
would be not only to create a beautiful breathing spot where 
it is much needed, but to destroy an eyesore and a menace 
to health. A park at this point should have bright flowers, for 
it would be among a people who love color and flowers; it 
should have pleasant winding walks, facilities for the play of 
little children, and ample accommodations for tired mothers 
where they could rest while their children play. 

River street, running through a nearer crowded section, and 
yet more conspicuous, should be redeemed from its present 
barrenness and made attractive by the planting of a row of 
trees on the stream side of each roadway, at the curb line of 
the present stream sidewalk. Those of you who know the 
quays of Paris, where the river runs similarly between walls 
of masonry far below the level of the street, know how attrac- 
tive this short space might be made. For here is a street 
something- like 200 feet from lot line to lot line, with a small 



3i 

walled stream running through its center, and all the rest of 

the space is abandoned to dusty, sunny roads, though for vehi- 
cle travel there would be ample provision with twenty feet on 
either side. The balance of the street, using the strip beside 
the stream for the purpose, should be parked. The trees ought 
to be planted at once. 

Continuing up the stream, River street dwindles away into a 
by-path before it reaches School. Nature has a chance again. 
Big trees hang over the water, and the creek sings as it dances 
on its way around the stones, or leaps the little ledges. At 
School street the big masonry abutments of the bridge almost 
close in on the stream, leaving just room for a foot path close 
to the water and making a distinct division between the creek's 
upper and lower reaches. From School street down to the 
River street terminus, a block, there are some shacks and 
patches of garden. Above, it is still wild for a space of con- 
siderable breadth on each bank. 

I like the suggestion of a Japanese garden on the stream ; 
but I advise that it be confined to the one block between 
Vineyard and School streets, where the bridge makes the sharp 
division. This will give ample room, if put into competent 
Japanese hands, for the display of a very attractive and inter- 
esting example of Japanese landscape art; it will be, too, so 
close to the Oriental quarter that the Japanese themselves can 
enjoy it. This will give to it the added merit of appropriate- 
ness, which it could not have at Kapiolani Park; and while 
making a distinct and fitting park provision for a numerous 
class of Honolulu residents, it will have its own attractiveness 
and interest to strangers enormously increased by the spec- 
tacle of its actual use by the picturesque Japanese. 

Bevond School street, with access from that street without 
the necessity of going through the Japanese garden unless one 
wished, and with access from each cross street, the banks of 
the Kuuanu stream should be preserved in their natural beauty 
with a footpath made to facilitate the enjoyment of the scene, 
at least as far as the avenue on the one branch and as Judd 
street on the other. There are no other short rural walks on 



32 

level within Honolulu, and this placid, peaceful scene with 
its lack of views is here more unique than sea and mountains. 
The strip is a iovely natural park, now almost unknown and 
its land unclaimed for other purposes. 

With these additions, involving little expense except in the 
case of the King street plot, which would effect so great an 
improvement as amply to justify its establishment, the Hono- 
lulu park system would be complete in its geographical dis- 
tribution. There would remain, however, one want to round 
out its social mission. This is children's playgrounds. 

d. Playgrounds. 

Several of these have been now established and one or two 
others aie contemplated. They seem well located and my only 
suggestion is that a more distinctly playground development be 
given to them. Toilet rooms should be provided in these, as 
in every one of the parks — scenic, pleasure grounds, and all. 
They should have some simple outdoor gymnastic apparatus, 
such as parallel bars and traveling rings ; there should be a 
section hedged off for the special use of the little children, and 
here the clean sea sand, which can be so easily provided, would 
be a delight. Wading ponds with concrete bottoms are prov- 
ing an untiring source of pleasure in the newer playgrounds of 
the cities of the States, and good sociological work can be 
done if there be a play-director. 

This fairly completes the study of the park system units, 
and there is need only to connect them and bring them into 
relation with one another. 

To do this is the special function of boulevards and drives. 

4. BOULEVARDS AND DRIVES. 

It is clear that in such a city as Honolulu, where the climate 
gives delightful driving weather from year's end to year's end, 
and where all classes do drive, the boulevards must have a 
special importance. It is clear also that in the large acreage 
which, it has been proposed to dedicate to park purposes, so 



33 

much driving opportunity is provided as to make it unneces- 
sary that the boulevards and drives should do more than ade- 
quately connect the parks and form of the separate units a 
system. 

The city is devoting most attention to the Waikiki road. I 
do not think this has been a wise choice, for it was possible to 
make a far finer approach to Waikiki out of the Beach road, 
or — jf this was too far from much of the residential district, 
and hence roundabout — there might have been laid out, and 
may still be planned by modifying the street plattings of the 
Pinkham reclamation plan, a boulevard to Kapiolani Park 
that would have been very stunning with Diamond Head 
closing its vista at one end and Punchbowl closing it at the 
other. Kalakaua avenue, however, is a condition that must 
now be recokoned with, and it much needs attention. With 
the car track at the side, and for considerable distances views 
of one or other crater. T do not favor the center parking, 
though ordinarily this is the best parkway treatment. The 
width of the road is now eighty feet, and within this space 
the Rapid Transit Company has a right to lay a double track. 
The outside track is in place and occasional switches are on 
the strip that eventually will be covered by the second track. 
All the rest of the boulevard is a glaring expanse of dust. 

Accepting the location of the track as a fixed condition, my 
recommendation is as follows: Mauka, from lot line to side- 
walk, turf two feet. Sidewalk, six feet. Curbline to outside 
rail, in order to allow car step, 3 feet 3 inches, in turf. Track 
and right of way space, 20 feet, 6 inches. Parking, three feet, 
three inches. Then would come the road, or drive, thirty 
feet, which is fair boulevard width with the car tracks out 
of the way. Alakai, parking seven feet. W r alk, six feet. Walk- 
line to lot line, in turf, two feet. The planting should follow 
the plan originated on Beacon Boulevard in Boston, and now 
widely followed. That is. the effort should be to "plant out" 



34 

the car line. From mauka curb to line of roadway the whole 
space — between the rails, between the tracks, and all — should 
be planted with grass. On the strip of parking between the 
present track and the roadway there should be shrubs, and if the 
second track is finally put in, another ten feet should be added to 
the width of the boulevard that there may still be room for park- 
ing and trees between tracks and road. The effect will 
be to put the cars into a long, narrow park all the 
time they are on Kalakaua avenue, extending the im- 
pression now given in front of Kapiolani Park, deaden- 
ing the »noise of the cars, eliminating the dust, and add- 
ing immensely to the pleasure of the trip for car passengers. 
Further practical advantages arising from this method of 
development are that, by using a trolley sprinkler, the strip 
can be kept watered easily and inexpensively ; and that the 
second track can be omitted or added without injuring the 
effect. Makai, the strip of parking between curb and roadway 
must be similarly developed, with turf and shrubs and trees, 
so as to correspond with the other side, while an incidental 
gain here will be the separation of the walk from the glare and 
dust of the road. Taking the boulevard as a whole, with this 
continuous garden on either side and the tracks out of the way, 
it will be a delightful, appropriate and thoroughly adequate 
and creditable promenade and drive. 

Of the avenue's extension to Beretania street, I have already 
spoken. Whether it starts there or at King street, the point 
should be fittingly marked as the beginning of the boulevard. 
My suggestion would be a high trellis, placed at right angles 
to the street axis, on each side of the road, and its planting 
with a luxuriant flowering vine — as the bougainvillea — that 
one may seem to enter it through a floral gateway. If the 
King street terminus be retained, and it prove impossible to 
remove the signs that now make hideous the vista and cheapen 
the structure that they cover, the vines might well be carried 



35 
over the roadway on an arch, so screening the buildings in the 
distant view. 

I have spoken of the Beach road as one of finer possibilities. 
The attractions of this as a scenic drive do not seem to be half 
appreciated. 1 would urge its development. It is now a direct 
line, as well as a beautiful way and one without car tracks, 
from the business and westside districts to Waikiki. With 
half the attention put upon Kalakaua it ought soon to be the 
popular way. The development of your waterfront entrance, 
the close connection with the remodeled Union square, and 
the creation of waterside parks at favorable points along the 
Beach road, make it— with its own beauty of scenery— the 
ideal park connection with the city when it shall be properly 
extended to reach Kalakaua avenue. 1 recommend that it be 
planted on each side with cocoanut palms, which would thrive 
in the sandy soil, which would preserve the views of mountain 
and sea, and give to it a unique value while adding immensely 
to the picturesqueness and tropical attraction of the city's 
waterfront. Nothing could be finer than this road, following 
the long curves of the beach, when planted on each side with 
cocoanuts. What I have said in favor of planting out the car 
tracks on Kalakaua avenue, applies equally well to other wide 
streets, where the track is at the side. For Waialae road 
especially, I urge it, as this with its improvement becomes a 
link in the chain of boulevard and parkway connections. It is. 
worth while to arrange these in order. 

Starting at Union square, the outer circuit would be as fol- 
lows : Richards street, the water entrance park, Beach road 
and its connections to Main avenue, Diamond Head road ; then 
over a short space that has yet to be improved skirting the 
west side of the Kaimuki reservoir; Koko Head road, now 
parked in the center and offering views on the one side of the 
sea and Koko Head, on the other of the plains and the city, 
and with the mountains before ; Waialae road to the proposed 



36 

diagonal road leading' into the Manoa valley ; np that valley if 
one desired, or by Manoa road to Wilder avenue, to Punch- 
bowl Road and so to Punchbowl summit, or to Tantalus, and 
some day on around the head of the Pauoa valley to Pacific 
Heights Park, and then down to Nuuanu, and to the Pali or 
back to town. An inner loop would go out Beretania street to 
the extended Kalakaua avenue, to Kapiolani Park, and back by 
Kapahulu road to Beretania. But there are so many variations 
that can be given to the drives, the different loops touching at 
such a number of points, that I have had made and submit 
herewith a photograph which shows on reduced scale the Mon- 
sarrat map, coloring on it the suggested park reservations and 
their connecting drives. This illustrates what an exceptionally 
fine system it is easily possible to make here. The one thing 
needed is the adoption of the plan, so that the progress of 
improvements will bring nearer, gradually but steadily, its 
realization. 

In this connection one word more needs to be said. It would 
be a mistake to try to boulevard all these connections or to 
make them all boulevards and parkways. Tt is as important 
that the drives of the park system be varied as that the park 
units should be, and a good residential street with its pleasant 
private gardens, or a distinctly rural road with lovely wild 
growth along the wayside, is in its proper place as creditable 
and excellent and pleasant a park connection as could be a 
costly and formal boulevard. On roads of this character, 
where they traverse fine scenery — as most of yours will — seats 
should be provided at advantageous points, as I have already 
suggested for the Pali road ; and it should everywhere be made 
a crime to deface rock or tree or earthern wall with lettering. 
In this connection, too, let me say that all the town parks — 
that is, the playgrounds, the ornamental spaces, the pleasure 
parks and the nearer scenic parks, such as Punchbowl and the 
summit of Pacific Heights together with their connecting park- 



37 

ways and boulevards — should be under one authority. That 
authority should be a park commission, responsible to the local 
government, (as to your body) rather than to the Territory. 

CONCLUSION. 

With the discussion of the drives, the survey of Honolulu 
and its improvement is concluded. It has been a pleasant 
task, where nature has done so much and where the citizens 
are so ready to work for Honolulu's good, to point out how 
the city may be improved. There is the chance, at wonderfully 
little expenditure — so lavish are the gifts of beauty that have 
been showered upon it — to make this one of the most pic- 
turesque and beautiful cities of the world — all one great park, 
witli a city tucked in between, in the vacant spaces. And there 
seems to be the will. It is a pleasure to tell you that I 
nowhere have seen more universal evidences of public spirit 
than here. The gifts of God have not spoiled you, but have 
wakened you to the wish to deserve them. I believe you will 
do that by the improvement of your opportunities and I am 
proud to have had this chance to connect my name in some 
degree with the making of such a park-city. 

Where so many have been kind, in hospitality, in courtesies 
of every sort, and in cooperation, I can not attempt to give 
names. My expression of appreciation, and of obligation, must 
be taken personally to heart by each. 

Respectfully submitted, 

CHARLES MULFORD ROBINSON. 

March 14, 1906. 



I* 



LIBRARY OF CWMCtajo 



000 884 275 9 



/ ^ 



v / 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




0D00Afl4E?5T 



Hollinger Corp. 

_u q c 



